Stay Vegan

amongst the many notes I compiled while reading Vegan Freak, that was one of them. while they failed to explain their rational, the authors posited the argument “cheese contains pus” in further support of veganism. this begged the question of more research. super geek and I debated it briefly during work hours (gasp) this morning, but I think I finally just found the basis of their argument (thank heavens I stayed up til midnight for that!).
apparently, because cows are raised in such horrendous conditions, perpetually suffering infections and being pumped with antibiotics, many of them suffer from mastitis, a bacterial infection of the udders. so they’re not only shooting out milk into the bucket (is there still even a bucket?!?), but also pus thanks to their infection. the dairy industry, this particular source says, even has a system by which they measure the amount of pus in the milk and the FDA allows up to 750 million pus cells per liter (about 2 lbs.).

To continue to learn and grow, and also keep my values always in the forefront of my thoughts, I will read one book a month on a vegan related issue, whether it be animals rights, vegan nutrition or even just re-reading vegan freak. (http://www.43things.com/things/view/3809)

No more whining or complaining about not eating cheese or ice cream. Those products were not only produced through cruelty, but they are basically the bodily excretions of other animals that were murdered so I could eat them. I wouldn’t ask a woman to produce milk nonstop so I could make it into things to eat, so why would I do that with other animals? In fact, breast milk in the fridge at work gives my stomach a funny turn. isn’t it logical that the same thing from a cow would evoke the same response?
What it comes down to is, I don’t want those things and for very good, solid reasons.
Additionally, I will stop trying to convince co-workers and family members not to cook vegan on my behalf. I still won’t expect it, but I will cheer and take joy in it when they do. I will be happy to be responsible for that many fewer animals dying for a meal.
Passive activism is my new mantra. I promote veganism by example, through the life I lead, the choices others see me make and the tone and content of my response to their questions.

One of the most shocking (and scariest) things I learned thru my reading is all of the evidence that points to how incredibly bad dairy is for your health! it just so happens that meat and dairy lobbyists are incredibly powerful and so have been able to mass market the concept that we need dairy to be healthy. However, over our 10,000 year history, consuming dairy was not common for most groups. That only came about in the last 100 or so years.

As noted in my “Read 50 Books” thing (http://www.43things.com/entries/view/1613856), I recently did some vegan-centric reading in an effort to better understand my own thoughts/reasons on my veganism as well to become better at explaining it to others. I wanted to be able to create a mission statement of sorts that will help me to be continually conscious of why I’ve made this choice. Here’s what I came up with:
I am on a quest to live a life of compassion. The practice of raising animals for food is destructive to the environment and unnecessarily cruel to both animals and people. I also believe that being vegan is the healthiest choice for humans nutritionally. but this is not just about food, it is a mission to reduce suffering to the greatest extent possible and by extension become a much more knowledgeable and conscious consumer.
Yes, there are animal products in a vast majority of things and no I cannot avoid every single one or go crazy trying. My goal is, though my actions, to reduce destruction and suffering to the greatest extent practical and possible for me. If I know that I can easily not eat eggs and dairy and easily check labels for those things and their derivatives, why wouldn’t I do that?
It’s a work in progress, but it’s a start!